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21 August 2015
Hurricane Danny May Be at Peak Strength
Danny now has winds near the center at 115 mph, but it is actually a rather tiny storm. Latest model runs continue a west-NW track but dry air is just to the north and wind shear will begin to impact the storm in about 48 hours. This should weaken it and the latest hires numerical model guidance shows just that. The intensity forecast from the HWRF model shows it weakening …
28 May 2015
NASA Earth Observation Satellites See Floods in Oklahoma and Arkansas
These two images from the NASA Terra and Aqua satellites are almost exactly 2 years apart. You can easily see the difference the flooding rains have had in the Arkansas River, especially around Fort Smith. More flooding rains are likely over the next 3-4 days across the Plains of Texas and Oklahoma.
22 April 2015
The Earth on Earth Day
I remember very well watching the CBS Evening News 45 years ago on the first Earth Day. It was a major story, and I believe Walter Cronkite led the broadcast with it. We know a lot more about our planet now than we did then, and there have been some amazing successes in protecting our environment. We now know something that was not well understood then, and that is the …
13 April 2015
Spring Marches North: The View from Space
This is from the NASA Aqua satellite. You can see the green of spring moving into Virginia, while snow remains in the Adirondacks. High resolution, color imagery from polar orbiting satellites allows folks like me to better tell the story of our planet to our TV audience and to our online viewers as well.
2 April 2015
The California Drought from Space
The animated GIF image below shows the snow pack on the Sierra on April 3 2013, and today April 2, 2015. Keep in mind that California was in serious drought even in 2013 but it’s a whole lot worse now.
17 February 2015
The Chesapeake Bay is Freezing Up!
Click the image above for a version large enough to print! It’s become another ‘winter to remember’ in the Northeastern U.S. The snow goes all the way to the beach here on Delmarva, with 6-8 inches covering the area. Some pics sent in from our viewers are below. Below is the ferry out to Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay. A snowy Ocean City beach below.
22 January 2015
Gravity Wave Ripples on The Satellite
The wave clouds on this image over Virginia are caused by winds flowing over the mountains. As the winds lift they form a cloud, and as they fall back down the air warms and dries out (and the cloud dissipates). These ripples happen because the air is fairly stable and does not want to go too high or low from its original height. So, after it goes over the mountains …
4 October 2013
Fall Color From the Terra Satellite
Nice shot of the peak fall color in the Adirondack’s from the true color MODIS on the Terra satellite. Some pretty cirrus as well, but can you spot the jet contrails??
22 April 2013
Happy Earth Day!
The view from the NASA Terra satellite this afternoon is just stunning. It shows the cold and snow of winter remaining over Canada but look at the advancing bright green spring in Virginia! This is a true colour image from low Earth orbit. Click here for a BIG version!
12 March 2013
Vote For NASA’s Most Amazing Pic
Over at the NASA Earth Observatory, they are having a contest to pick NASA’s most amazing space image. I can tell right now what my favourite is. The image below from the MODIS sensor on the Aqua Satellite. NASA’s mission is to explore and learn, but perhaps its greatest gift to the people of the Earth is (and has always been) inspiration. Go take a look and vote!